Fun evening for speakers
THE evening of Tuesday, January 22, got off to a great
start for Loughborough Speakers Club.
Frank Rawson, on his first outing as club chairman, successfully managed the evening which started with the warm up word ‘Snow’; setting the scene for a fun evening.
The first speech entitled ‘Frozen in time’ was brought to us by Sue York and spoke of a child clinging to its mother, in Pompei, Italy, in 79AD, when Mount Vesuvius erupted; burning hot black ash raining down with 6 inches falling every hour.
Centuries later in 1748 explorers found their bodies hardened in perfect rock moulds. Pompeii, frozen in time, was brought to life once again by Sue; a fascinating and interesting speech. We learn so much at speakers’ club.
The second speech by Andy Kowalski was based on using gestures and was entitled ‘Leadership and politics.’
Andy expressed his concern at the lack of leadership regarding Brexit and went onto to give examples of good leaders. He chose Mahatma Ghandi as an outstanding example; an astute Indian, non-violent campaigner.
He also cited Nelson Mandela who showed great restraint as a man of peace, had a powerful presence and showed the world what forgiveness looks like. There were other examples in JFK, famous for the Cuban crisis, and the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, famous for the ‘I have a dream speech.’
Andy contrasted these with poor leadership examples like Neil Kinnock’s failure to win the 1972 election and he concluded with his concern about the British Government’s lack of a workable policy with the E.U.
The third speaker, Lydia Lupes, a relatively new member, offered her second speech entitled ‘ Wonderful Romania’.
She spoke of her love for her country deeply; how beautiful the landscape is and how amazing and important the river Danube is.
Time has stood still in Romania. It is a country unspoiled by modernisation; Prince Charles quoted as saying that ‘Romania has a sound spiritual base, great social significance and a soul.’
Three different, contrasting, interesting speeches!
After the interval, the topic session was chaired by Nathan Tynsdale. Speakers were given an emotive word like ‘Anger’, or ‘Surprise’ and asked to express it so that the audience could guess the word.
First up was Nick Aginkya, who expressed ‘Anger’ at the state of the British Railway and its appalling mismanagement.
Nick’s anger seemed real and as a result he was awarded the Golden Gavel for the best presentation.
Another word expressed was ‘Surprise’. Sue York brought back child hood
memories of Santa Claus and stockings. Good emotion was shown in the speech as were others in explaining ‘sadness’ and ‘excitement’. This was a successful theme.
The other successful first of the evening was presented by Vince Jupp who reviewed the whole evening’s activities. He offered constructive advice to the chairman, the evaluators, the topic evaluator and the time keeper, who was thanked for standing in.
The whole evening was very successful, engaging and fun.
The next meeting is on February 26, at John Storer House at 7.30pm.
Please join us for what could be an evening of inspiring speaking.
Find out how you can conquer your fear of speaking in public. We will make you most welcome. Join us.
More information can be found on our website: www. loughboroughspeakers.org.uk